Inspiration: Graphic Design, Part 2

Today is part two of my graphic design inspiration category. I've got lots of neat design that I'll be featuring today. There isn't a specific theme for today besides graphic design - but all the things that I'll show you are things that inspire me.

I have three brand identity designs to show you, and then three print design items. So I'll start with the brand identities. But I thought it might be helpful to define what a brand identity is. I throw that term around a lot, and I'm not sure I've ever explained exactly how I use it. It's closely tied to the term "logo" but they don't mean the same thing, at least not in the sense I use them. A logo is the actual image that defines a company or "brand." The Apple logo is an apple. The McDonald's logo is the golden arches. But a brand identity is the whole scope of how that logo is applied. A logo is part of a brand identity, but a brand identity includes the logo itself as well as the other things a company needs (such as Macbooks, the Apple website, even the little information guides that come with iPods... or a McDonald's hamburger wrapper or french fries box). Actually, this whole concept of brand identity inspires me, because I think it's so important for companies (especially larger ones) to have a whole brand identity. Logos are SO essential, but unless they're applied to all the things people actually see, they don't do much good.

Now that that's out of the way, I have some brand identities to show you!

First up is an identity I saw on Identity Designed, for a company called Fruita Blanch, which produces organic juices, jam, and canned goods. I love this identity. Here are two pictures, but please go to the post on Identity Designed for more.

I really love everything about this design. It's so great. I think what's most brilliant and inspiring about it is the way it combines minimalism with earthiness. That combination is a unique and very striking one. It's not cluttered, but at the same time, it's cozy and inviting, not stark or sterile looking. The typography is fun, too. I like the typeface (which I think is custom designed for this identity), and I love the fact that there is just one basic typeface across the whole identity. I like the way the whole design does play off the "organic" concept, but it looks cool in modern instead of looking cutesy like some organic food packaging does. I like the use of texture on the blue poster thing, too. I think it can be difficult to use texture in a more minimalist design, but this designer sure pulled it off.

I'd like to share another brand identity from Identity Designed, this time for a jewelry company called Union Jewellery (nice British spelling there).

The post on Identity Designed said: "The brief was to create something that felt classic, but still contemporary; elegant and sophisticated, but also with a sense of fun. There was also a desire to create a visual language that was distinct from the generic visual language of other jewellery stores."

I think this brand completely accomplished those goals. It's classic yet contemporary, elegant yet fun. And it's pleasantly unique from the classic jewelry store look without being at all ostentatious.

And what's interesting about this design is that it uses so many colors in the application. But somehow they all seem to work. I think maybe the consistency of the basic symbol helps tie it all together.

It's neat how the designer combined the basic symbol four times to make the bigger symbol - and yet that second symbol still works cohesively with the entire design.  I think what inspires me most about this design and also the Fruita Blanch design, is that both of them look different an unique from their competitors. That's a lot of what branding is: showing what makes a company special. And both of these identity designs excel at that.

The final identity design I want to show you all before I move on to some print projects is one I saw on Bloesem that was designed by graphic designer and illustrator Clara von Zweigbergk. It's for a candy company in Stockholm called Parlans.

This logotype was hand-drawn by Clara von Zweigbergk. WOW. I'd love to learn how to hand-draw stuff that looks like this.

I think this logo is so perfect for a candy company. It's sweet and delicate looking, but it's also not stuffy or prissy, which is good because the candy is hand-made. The way it translates to the rest of the identity is neat to see, too.

I love the kraft paper and the wax paper wrappings for the candies. So handmade looking, but at the same time, the fancy logo helps maintain a sweet, very refined look to it. This logo really caters to the needs and nature of the business - it seems like a visual representation of what the company is, at least from knowing that it's a hand-made candy company and seeing the candy itself. That's something that can be inspiring - because of all types of design, brand identity is perhaps the thing that most has to match the feel of the business.

Now for some print design items... first, a student re-design of American Heritage Magazine. This design hasn't been adopted by the magazine, but it's neat and well-designed. It was made by Mitchell Thorson, who I heard about through ThDstrct, a website showing artists in the Washington, DC area.

Here's the cover and one inside page spread. You can see more here.

I like the way this design combines modern and unique with historical. The idea of combining two usually opposed things is one that seems very useful in design. The re-design is very updated, but at the same time seems to acknowledge that this is a history magazine. I also think the combination of a serif font and a sans serif font is interesting. And I especially love that most of the magazine is set in Gotham [insert happy scream here].

Next, I want to show you a menu design. I honestly didn't think all that much about menu design until I heard about Under Consideration's blog, Art of the Menu. It's a whole blog devoted to the design of menus! Isn't that neat? The one I want to show you is for a restaurant called Parc, and you can see more images at this post.

The typography in this menu is so neat, and the whole design really is art. It certainly belongs on a blog called "Art of the Menu." I also like the lines and scrolly things. There are lots of different styles of ornaments going on, but they all work nicely together. I think it's neat that even though the design of this menu is busier, it still looks tied together and it's easy to read.

The last thing I have for you all to see today is an amazingly cool poster from For Print Only, another Under Consideration blog. It's a poster with a map of the known universe, and it looks so cool. And besides, one of the fonts used is Gotham (two things with Gotham in one post? Now that's exciting!). Take a look at two images of it, and then see more here.

I love the retro feel of this and how fun it looks. It's something that would simply be enjoyable to unfold and look at. It has so many different panels on this side (shown above), and the other side is a simple map of the whole universe. The black backgrounds are very eye-catching, but the other, lighter colors give it a more youthful, comfortable feel. What inspires me about this is the continuity of the whole design (even with all those separate panels), as well as simply how cool it looks in print. Seeing things like this make me want to - someday - design cool things like this and then see them actually printed.

Please let me know what you all think of the things I've shared today! I'd love to hear your opinions too!

The end.